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Any factory equipped diesel ½ ton and smaller trucks out there?

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S

Aces

  • srenfro
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N

1954 Allis Chalmers road grader

  • NPloysa
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S

SmokinU

Hey Fellows,



I was wondering if any Manufactures produced a 1/2 ton and smaller diesel pickup? Only ones I know exist are Chevy with the 6. 5 (want no parts of that), and Ford made a diesel ranger, but are very rare. I not sure if Toyota or Nissan made one? I also know that VW made what they called a diesel truck (but I don’t), so that one is out of the question. I would like to buy a ½ ton or smaller diesel 4x4 pickup, but they just don’t seem to exist. Can anybody help me out? Thanks,



Brandon
 
I believe both Nissan and Toyota made diesels trucks back in the day but they will be very hard to find. Check Ebay. That's where you find the rare stuff.
 
In about three years there should be a plethera(sp) of 1/2 ton diesels in smaller trucks due to the lower content of sulphur in diesel and cleaner burning engines.
 
The Izusu's were available with diesels and so were the Mitsubishi and Dodge Ram 50's And if you weren't from California the Jeep Comanche too.
 
Mazda also made a diesel,as well as the other japanese manufacturers like Mitsubishi,Isuzu,Toyota,Datsun/Nissan. They are pretty rare,but worth getting I think. My friend used to have an old Ford Ranger with a small Mazda diesel it if from the factory. It was a non-turbo,and had no balls,but it did get 50+mpg. Check E-bay,and do a search for Toyota diesel,or (insert japanese company name here)Diesel,you will get results. Good luck,and be prepared to pay extra for a nice old diesel they seem to hold their value. Even the Rabbit pickups from VW fetch a pretty penny.
 
Some IHC Scout's had a little I-6 Diesel. The early ones were non turbo, the later one's had turbos. Also kinda rare.





"NICK"
 
Nissian make a lot of Diesels and Toyata too, there is the Austrilian market, i not sure how hard it would be to import one, the turbo charge landcruzier kiked butte when i worked over. Even the non turbo work truck would to 160 KHp = 100mhp.
 
I'm looking for that elusive 1/2-ton diesel, too. If you rule out that GM 6. 5, you are left with choices that are 20-years old.



Let me add the Chevy S-10 to the list of small pickups with diesel options. My father had an '84 extended cab, 5-speed 2WD with the 2. 2-liter Isuzu in it. (It used the same engine as the Chevy LUV and Isuzu P'up. ) It was a nice truck, efficient and very comfortable... but dog slow. It would deliver up to 32 mpg on the highway and high-20's around home. We always talked about putting a turbo on it, but didn't.



Ironically Brandon, my father purchased the S-10 from a Lebanon-based company in 1985. Why weren't you reading the classified ads back then? Just kidding. We ran it until it had 170,000 miles on it. It was in high demand when we sold it. We had two buyers that drove the price up to $3,500 or so. At the time we thought it was big money for an old truck, but Rabbit pickups are still bringing that money now. Probably should have kept the diesel S-10, but my father wanted an Explorer.
 
A neighbor where I used to live, had a Ranger diesel. I got to drive to do hog chores for him when he went on vacation. Not real powerful, but it was nice little pickup.



Another firend had a Dodge D-50 Sport with a turbodiesel in it. Had over 300k on it when he sold it. Still didn't use any oil. It was a work truck, to haul combine parts OTR. Once he out grew that he got a 1/2 ton Chevy Suburban w/6. 2 in it. Out grew that and bought a new '93 D-350 Cummins. :D He still owns the Ram. Has over 225k on it. Still looks like new, minus a few tiny dents from a topper.
 
Chevy's first venture into the diesel market in a domestic full size was with the 5. 7 liter diesel based on the Olds 350, they moved up when they released the 6. 2 diesel. Both of these were naturally aspirated, the 6. 2 grew into a 6. 5 and later it was turboed. The 5. 7 was only available in 2wd 1/2 tons everything was available in 1/2, 3/4 and 1 tons 2wd and 4wd.



Gus
 
My ol-Datsun

My first diesel pickup was a 82 Datsun King-Cab 2wd with a stick. I loved that truck for long distance trips! The engine was durable as heck, a gear-driven cam pushrod 4cyl, indirect injection. A non-turbo with only 61HP, you had to exercise patience when the light turned green, but I would always get around 37 to 40 MPG. Unfortunately the frame rusted so bad I had to take it off the road.

Steve
 
there are small diesels available it goes sorta like this cheby is connected with isuzu, fured with mazda, dodge with mitsibushi. I bought an 85 mitsi with 40k original miles it is turbo 5spd 4wd it gets in the lower to mid 30mpg I love this truck. The turbo kicks in at about 1500rpm if you are not light on the petal the rear tires will brake loose,the rpm range is tight and I try to keep the rpm around 3k. one thing to know about these units is that the oil filters are about $40 each but a bypass would help in that area. Also these units are older and filters are getting hard to find but i believe there should be a supplier other than the dealers . I was getting my filters from napa and suddenly they don,t have them any more so i found some at a dormans store bought all they had no new supply there either. Now I think i can get them at car quest the #s may not match but so many of these engines were used in bobcats, case,new holland , and the list goes on aqnd on so this leads me to believe the parts are out there just locating them is will not fun when you need the part. Oh for this 85 mitsi Ipaid $3200. I know I should have kissed him buy that ain,t my style. Good luck
 
southpaw,



This truck you own, is it actually made by Mitsubishi, or is it a Dodge truck that has the Mitsubishi Turbo Diesel in it. Also, do you have any pictures of it? Thanks,



Brandon
 
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Turbo Diesel Register
Issue 128 – Digital Version
Digital Magazines
FREE!
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Renew
Subscribe
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Back Issues
Subscription Status
Address Change Form
Buyer's Guides
Ram Diagnostic Trouble Codes
The Perfect Collection
The Perfect Collection Vol. II
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Dodge/Cummins Historical Overview
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What Makes Us Tick?
Product Showcase
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